Besides the collection of radial walkways which make their way across the Agassiz Park of today, there is very little else remaining that illustrates the grand vision Warren Manning had for the landscape. The majority of the old park’s property has been replaced by public housing projects, parking lots, roads and commercial buildings. But scattered about the public spaces that have managed to remain are a few glimpses of the park’s original grandeur – you just have to be willing to look hard enough (and use a little imagination).

The park’s original design called for the inclusion of a full sized football field and complimentary running track on the park’s northern end, and space was left for just that purpose along Elm Street. Unfortunately that field was never built, but the space reserved for that purpose is home to such a field today. The present field belongs to Calumet’s public school system, and was built on land C&H leased to the school decades ago. The field continues to be used by the school today, as seen in the photo above. Also seen in this photo is the line of towering Lombardy Poplars that once marked the old park’s eastern border along the mine property.

Speaking of those poplars, similar groupings can be found scattered all along the old park’s boundaries. Here on the park’s east side stand more then a few of these old trees, which once created a massive natural wall muffling the sights and sounds of the neighboring mine.

Though gone today (removed to make room for the athletic field’s parking lot) another line of those large poplars once bordered Elm Street as well. While the tree’s may be gone, the line of company housing that once overlooked those trees continue to stand. Like the park itself, these houses sat on company property (in a community known as Blue Jacket) and were owned by C&H.

Turning our attention back to the football field, we find a few modern buildings sitting on the spot reserved for one of the parks covered pavilions that was never built. The line of trees in the background belong to the playground path branching off from the Elm Street walkway. In front of these buildings would have sat the park’s basketball and handball courts.

An outline of old trees can also be found here along the park’s western end. These tree’s once shaded the park’s tennis courts, which were one of the only athletic amenities actually installed in the park. The courts were torn out to make way for a municipal parking lot. The tree’s have fortunately managed to survive however. They now provide shade for the modern parks basketball court and horseshoe pits.

Turning southward we head off towards the area of the park originally set aside for a never-constructed outdoor amphitheater. Instead of that public space we find a small commercial building in its place. This is an insurance office, and was a result of C&H’s parceling off of its park property for commercial development in the 1950’s.

Next to that insurance office you can find a collection of trees set in a familiar pattern. This is no doubt a small remaining section of yet another tree-lined walking path, which today makes its way straight into the side of the building. This particular path looks to have originally made its way from Scott Street to the Colosseum.

At the southern tip of the old park’s original boundaries is a small green space which borders up against the still-standing Colosseum. The Colosseum was built in 1913 primarily as an indoor ice rink – a role it continues to serve still today. (its supposedly one of the oldest continually used indoor rinks in the world) Manning’s original plans for Agassiz Park utilized the Colosseum as a central focus, and for all intents and purposes the building was part of the park itself. After a brief stint as the Calumet Armory, the building is once again known as the Colosseum.

To Be Continued…